Terms of Use

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By participating (reading, writing, or merely browsing) on NextStopOnline.com and HTJournal.com, YOU ARE AGREEING TO THE TERMS OF USE BELOW referred to as “Terms of Use” and/or “Terms and Conditions.” 

These rules and guidelines are here to protect you (and others) and to ensure that NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites are safe and fun for everybody. By agreeing to these terms, you are taking responsibility for your own actions. 

There are two parts to the Terms of Use.   Part 1 addresses the non-commercial uses of The Service.  Part 2 addresses the commercial uses of The Service. 

Part 1: 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites are provided free of charge to you under these Terms of Use by Digital Creek Studios, L.L.C. DBA NextStopOnline.com, The Hometown Journal, Breaktime Publications, The Village Shoppes and Explore!. Many portions of NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites are open for anyone to view, read, or download. There are, however, some areas where a free membership is required for entrance. You are responsible for your own actions, words, and statements while you are connected to NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites. 

By logging in to NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites as a visitor and by simply reading, writing or merely browsing OR as a member by completing the registration process, or selecting the "login" option, you are indicating your agreement to be bound by the terms of use and these terms may be modified periodically. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites are not the publisher or author for any of the works posted by the Contributing Editors or members. NextStopOnline.com com and The Hometown Journal network of sites does not screen any work for content; however, there is an editorial staff that reads the articles and edits them for grammatical and typographical errors. Questionable content may be brought up with the Contributing Editor and he/she may be asked to change the content so that it may not offend any of the readers. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites cannot guarantee security, but reasonable steps are taken in an effort to maintain security on the system. Please see our Privacy Policy. If you feel security has been breached, please bring up your concerns with a NextStopOnline.com or The Hometown Journal network of sites staff member. If NextStopOnline.com or The Hometown Journal network of sites suspects that an account may be in use by someone who is not authorized by the account holder, NextStopOnline.com or The Hometown Journal network of sites may temporarily disable that account. If such a case arises, the member will be contacted as soon as possible. NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites reserve the right to refuse service to anyone and to cancel an account at any time. 

You are legally and ethically responsible for your work -- writings, files, pictures, or any other work -- that you post or transmit using any of NextStopOnline.com's and/or  The Hometown Journal network of sites’ services including, but not limited to: email, conferencing, the World Wide Web, USENET, or any other service that allows interaction or dissemination of information. In posting works on NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites, you are responsible for honoring the rights of others, including intellectual-property rights (copyright, patent, and trademark), the right to privacy, the right not to be libeled or slandered. For example, if you wish to post a copyrighted work on NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites, you are responsible for obtaining the copyright holder's permission first. 

In posting a work via any service offered by NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites, you authorize other members (who have access to that service) to make personal and customary use of the work, including creating links to your work or reposting it among conference areas to which the author has access, but not otherwise to reproduce or disseminate it unless permission has been given. You also give permission to NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites to copy your works as part of the normal backup process, and to conference hosts to archive topics containing your works. NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites become the owner of all electronic data via posted articles, discussions, etc. and does not allow reproduction of this work unless specifically granted to an individual or organization for a one time use, and NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites is cited as the owner. 

You alone are responsible for the content of your messages, and the consequences of any such messages. NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites reserves the right to terminate your registration if you are violating any of the following guidelines. 

Any use by you of any other subscriber's information, personal or otherwise, for any commercial purpose or to obtain direct financial gain (e.g. mass marketing) is prohibited. Any such use shall be deemed to be a violation of these Terms of Use. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites is to be used by you for your personal use only. Commercial uses of NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites are strictly prohibited unless prior written consent from NextStopOnline.com has been granted. You agree that you will not use any service of NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites for chain letters, junk mail, "spamming", solicitations (commercial or non-commercial) or bulk communications of any kind including but not limited to distribution lists to any person who has not given specific permission to be included in such a list. 

You further agree not to use NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites to send or post on message boards, any message(s) or material that is unlawful, harassing, libelous, defamatory, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, racially offensive, inaccurate, or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature or that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation, or encourage the use of controlled substances. NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites reserves the right to delete any such material from NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites. 

You agree not to impersonate any other person or entity, whether actual or fictitious, including impersonating an employee of NextStopOnline.com or Digital Creek Studios, L.L.C. or Breaktime Publications or any of our Associate Publishers or Affiliates or The Hometown Journal or Explore! or The Village Shoppes. You further agree not to use an inappropriate user name of any kind. If you do happen to choose an alias that a person, group, or organization deems inappropriate, you will be asked to consider changing it. If you feel that it has no inappropriate connotations, then a NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites staff member will review both parties' cases and make a judgement. 

You agree not to post or use NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites to distribute or send any illegal material of any kind, including but not limited to, illegal material in the form of text, graphics, video, programs or audio. Posting content or participating in any form of discussion with the intention to commit any illegal activity is strictly prohibited. You may not use NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites as file storage. 

By submitting content to any "public area" of NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites, including, but not limited to: message boards, forums, contests and chat rooms, you grant NextStopOnline.com, Digital Creek Studios, L.L.C., Breaktime Publications, any of our Associate Publishers, and our affiliates the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and non-exclusive right (including any moral rights) and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, communicate to the public, perform and display the content (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed. You also warrant that the holder of any Rights, including moral rights in such content, has completely and effectively waived all such rights and validly and irrevocably granted to you the right to grant the license stated above. You also permit any subscriber to access, display, view, store and reproduce such content for personal use. Subject to the foregoing, the owner of such content placed on NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites retains any and all rights that may exist in such content. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites are not responsible for any material and/or data obtained through downloading or other means, which may be responsible for any damage to your computer system, data, or any personal objects. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites cannot and does not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information provided on the site by NextStopOnline.com staff, The Hometown Journal staff, Explore! staff, Contributing Editors, or members. No individual staff member, Contributing Editor, Associate Publisher, Affiliate or member can be held responsible for information provided which may be the direct or indirect cause of loss or damage to any personal property, data, or results in mental or physical harm. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites are not responsible for the content or links to the content of the Internet, World Wide Web, FTP sites, USENET, or any other service that is outside of the NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites web site. NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites takes no responsibility for the quality, suitability, functionality, or legality of any site which may be linked to or from NextStopOnline.com or The Hometown Journal network of sites. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites permits members to post ads and take no responsibility in the accuracy of the content or suitability of these. 

NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites encourages members to engage one another in debates, but does not condone personal attacks on members. Ideas can be disputed or challenged, but attacks on a personal level are unacceptable and if they are brought to the attention of the staff, will be dealt with accordingly. Ideas can be attacked, but individuals cannot. 

In the event that NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites determines that you have breached any portion of these Terms of Use, or have otherwise demonstrated conduct inappropriate for the community of NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites, NextStopOnline.com and The Hometown Journal network of sites reserves the right to: (i) warn you via email that you have violated these Terms of Use; (ii) delete any content provided by you or your agent(s); (iii) delete all content provided by you to NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites; (iv) revoke your membership to NextStopOnline.com and/or The Hometown Journal network of sites and/or any other future NextStopOnline.com online community; (v) take any other action which NextStopOnline.com or Digital Creek Studios, L.L.C. or Breaktime Publications or The Hometown Journal or any of our Associate Publishers, deems necessary and appropriate. 

Part 2: 

DESCRIPTION OF COMMERCIAL MARKETING SERVICE

The Service is providing its Commercial Members (also referred to as “The Alliance” in marketing material both online and offline) with a capability to network and promote each other through advertising and written content via the World Wide Web and on The Service's own system known as NextStopOnline.com and HTJounal.com. There is no charge to the Member for the basic version of this Service within the section of the site referred to as the Directory and the NetSearch Search Engine. However, you must (1) provide all equipment, including a computer and modem, necessary to establish a connection to the World Wide Web and (2) obtain access to the World Wide Web and pay any telephone service fees and/or connection fees associated with such access and (3) pay any additional fees for upgrade versions of the Service, such as advertising and promotional articles where noted as requiring payment.  

MEMBER OBLIGATIONS 

In consideration for this Service, you agree to provide certain information about yourself as prompted to do so by the Service, and update this information as necessary to keep it current, complete and accurate. All information requested on original sign up shall be referred to as registration data ("Registration Data"). Furthermore, you are granting The Service the right to disclose to third parties certain information about you; however, such disclosures will exclude Member's name, mailing address, account and phone number, unless you expressly direct The Service to disclose such information or The Service is required to disclose such information by operation of law or to comply with legal process served on The Service. If any information provided by you is inaccurate, The Service retains the right to terminate your membership and all associated rights to the Service.  

MODIFICATIONS TO TERMS OF SERVICE 

The Service may change the Terms and Conditions of service from time to time. It is your responsibility to check this document periodically for any changes or modifications as there will be no individual notices to Members regarding such changes or modifications. Your continued use of the Service constitutes an affirmative acknowledgment by you of the Terms and Conditions and any subsequent modifications made to them and your agreement to abide and be bound by them.  

MODIFICATIONS TO THE SERVICE 

The Service reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Service with or without notice to its Members. The Service shall not be liable to Member or any third party should they exercise their right to modify or discontinue the Service.  

PRIVACY POLICY 

It is The Service's policy to respect the privacy of its Members. Therefore, in addition to the privacy of registration data The Service will not monitor, edit, or disclose the contents of its Members' private communications unless required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on The Service or to protect and defend the rights or property of The Service. As a Member, you acknowledge and agree that The Service neither endorses the contents of any Member communications nor assumes responsibility for any threatening, libelous, obscene, harassing or offensive material contained therein, any infringement of third party intellectual property rights arising there from or any crime facilitated thereby. 

As a Member you acknowledge and understand that certain technical processing of email messages and their content may be required to send and receive messages; conform to connecting networks' technical requirements; conform to the limitations of the Service; or conform to other similar requirements. 

MEMBER ACCOUNT, PASSWORD, AND SECURITY

Once you become a member of the Service, you will receive a password and an account. You, alone, are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. Furthermore, you are entirely responsible for any and all activities which occur under your account. You must immediately notify The Service of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security known to you. You may change your password at any time by following instructions provided. You may also set up a new account and close an old one at your convenience. 

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES 

MEMBER EXPRESSLY ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT MEMBER'S SOLE RISK AND THAT THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. 

THE SERVICE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. 

THE SERVICE MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICE WILL MEET MEMBER'S REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR FREE. THE SERVICE MAKES NO GUARANTEES AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE OR THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED. 

MEMBER UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES THAT ANY MATERIAL AND/OR DATA DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT MEMBER'S OWN RISK AND MEMBER IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO MEMBER'S COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF SUCH MATERIAL AND/OR DATA. 

THE SERVICE MAKES NO WARRANTY REGARDING ANY GOODS OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE OR ANY TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH THE SERVICE. 

NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY MEMBER FROM THE SERVICE OR THROUGH THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY MADE HEREIN. 

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES, THEREFORE SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY 

THE SERVICE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, RESULTING FROM THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE OR FOR COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES OR RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH THE SERVICE OR RESULTING FROM UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF MEMBER'S TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE, EVEN IF THE SERVICE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THE SERVICE SHALL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MESSAGES RECEIVED BY MEMBER, REGARDLESS OF THEIR CONTENT.  

NO RESALE OR COMMERCIAL USE OF THE SERVICE

Your right to use the Service is personal to you. Therefore, a Member may only be an individual, not a corporation or other business entity. You may not resell or make any commercial use of the Service, without the express written permission of The Service. 

CONTENT STORAGE AND OTHER LIMITATIONS 

The Service assumes no responsibility for the deletion or failure to store Member’s content. The Service has set no fixed upper limit on the amount of content you may post through the Service; however, The Service retains the right, at its sole discretion, to determine whether or not a Member's conduct is consistent with the letter and spirit of the Terms and Conditions of this service. The Service may terminate Service if a Member's conduct is found to be inconsistent with the intent of this agreement.  

MEMBER CONDUCT

You are solely responsible for the contents of your transmissions through the Service. Your use of the Service is subject to all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations. Therefore, you agree: (1) to comply with all applicable United States laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the U.S. through the Service; (2) that you shall not use the Service for illegal purposes; (3) that you shall not interfere or disrupt networks connected to the Service; and (4) that you shall comply with all regulations, policies and procedures of networks connected to the Service.

The Service makes use of the Internet to send and receive certain messages; therefore, your conduct is subject to Internet regulations, policies and procedures. Members may not use the Service to send chain letters, junk mail or spam (unsolicited bulk e-mail) or to communicate with any person who has not given specific permission to be included in such communications. In addition, you may not transmit through the Service any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature. You further agree not to transmit any material that encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation. Attempts to gain unauthorized access to other computer systems are prohibited. Members may not interfere with another Member's use and enjoyment of the Service or another entity's use and enjoyment of similar services. 

The Service may, at its sole discretion, immediately terminate Service should Member's conduct fail to conform with these Terms and Conditions. The Service reserves the right to terminate any inactive account. 

INDEMNIFICATION 

You agree to indemnify and hold The Service, its officers, directors, employees, subsidiaries, affiliates, successors and assigns, harmless from any third party claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made in connection with or arising out of your use of the Service, your violation of the Terms and Conditions, or the infringement by you, or other users of the Service using your membership, of any intellectual property, right of privacy or publicity, or other right of any person or entity.  

TERMINATION/CANCELLATION 

The Service may terminate the Service with or without cause at any time and effective immediately. Termination shall be accompanied by a written notice. The Service shall not be liable to you or any third party for termination of Service. 

Should Member object to any terms and conditions of this service or any subsequent modifications thereto or become dissatisfied with the Service in any way, your sole and exclusive recourse is to immediately discontinue your use of the Service; cancel your membership; and notify The Service of your cancellation. 

Upon termination of the Service, your right to use the Service and Software immediately ceases and you shall have no right and The Service shall have no obligation thereafter to forward any unread or unsent messages to Member or any third party. 

NOTICE 

Except as otherwise indicated herein, all notices to you from The Service or from you to The Service shall be in writing and shall be made via email or conventional mail. The Service may post notices or messages through the Service to inform Members of changes to the Service, or the Terms and Conditions of service, or other matters of importance; such postings shall constitute sufficient written notice to Member.  

PARTICIPATION IN PROMOTIONS OF ADVERTISERS 

You may enter into correspondence with or participate in promotions of the Advertisers marketing their products on the Service. Any such correspondence or promotions, including the delivery of and the payment for goods and services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such correspondence or promotions, are solely between the corresponding Member and the Advertiser. The Service assumes no liability, obligation or responsibility for any part of any such correspondence or promotion.  

PROPRIETARY RIGHTS TO CONTENT 

Members acknowledge that content, including but not limited to text, photographs, video, graphics, software, music, sound, or other material contained in either sponsor advertisements or emails presented to Member by The Service or The Service's Advertisers (collectively referred to as "Content"), is protected under the laws of copyright, trademark, patent, unfair competition or other applicable laws. Therefore, you are only permitted to use this Content as expressly authorized by The Service or the Advertisers associated with The Service.   Members may not copy, reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from this Content without the express written authorization to do so by the The Service or The Service's Advertisers.  

GOVERNING LAW

All matters relating to your access to, or use of, the Service shall be governed by U.S. federal law or the laws of the State of Kansas, excluding that body of laws known as conflicts of laws. If any provision of this Agreement is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, it is, to that extent, deemed omitted and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect. Any notices related to this agreement need to be given in writing to one another at our address below, or any new address that is given in such a notice. 

DISPUTE RESOLUTION

 The parties will attempt in good faith to resolve through negotiation any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to this Agreement or breach, termination, enforcement, interpretation or validity thereof.  If the Dispute is not resolved through verbal and written communications, the matter will be submitted to American Arbitration Association, or its successor, for arbitration. Any Dispute submitted to arbitration shall be determined by arbitration in Wichita, KS, USA before a sole arbitrator, in accordance with the laws of the State of Kansas. The language of the arbitration shall be English. The arbitration shall be administered by American Arbitration Association pursuant to its Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures. Except with respect to a party's indemnification obligations, the arbitrator will have no authority to award punitive damages or any other damages not measured by the prevailing party's actual damages, and may not, in any event, make any ruling, finding or award that does not conform to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Judgment on the arbitration award ("Award") may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The arbitrator shall, in the Award, allocate all of the costs of the arbitration, including the fees of the arbitrator and the reasonable attorneys' fees of the party that primarily prevails, against the party who that did not primarily prevail. 

This agreement is the entire understanding between you and  NEXTSTOPONLINE.COM AND/OR THE HOMETOWN JOURNAL, Breaktime Publications, Digital Creek Studios, L.L.C. and its affiliates. 

Digital Creek Studios, L.L.C., Breaktime Publications, NextStopOnline.com and the Hometown Journal are located at:  108 E. Murdock, Wichita, KS 67203 • Phone: 316-775-2921